ESCI Ford Transit- Review

The Ford Transit is Europe's equivalent of the domestic E-Series/Econoline line here in the US. They are full-sized, RWD vans (the Transit Connect is a front-drive compact model) and a 'domesticated' version has replaced the E-Series, which is now available only as a chassis-cab model in North America.

Although the Italian firm ESCI (pronounced "esh-she") was well-known maker of aircraft and military kits, they did dablle in the mainstream automotive scales too. The kits were akin to many Tamiya and Aoshima kits- comparable in overall quality and the way the kits were broken down, meaning simplified but accurate, and more than credible replicas of their full-scale counterparts. Ertl, who had already taken hold of the American AMT and MPC kit lines, took over ESCI in 1987, and subsequently (by most accounts) all but completely ran the brand into the ground. Some former ESCI aircraft kits reappeared under the AMT/Ertl name, and after Ertl had given up on that side of the market, Italeri took over and reissued a few of the ESCI kits. It is said that between that time, many of the ESCI molds were neglected or damaged beyond repair, and nobody from Ertl or Italeri will say anything regarding what tooling still exists. So the fate of this Transit kit may remain unknown.

Esci's Transit is a 1984-1986 MK2 version. We'll look at the Paris Dakar and Hertz versions, but other than molded body colors and decals, all the kits were the same otherwise. I've found four versions so far- the PD kit which has the body parts molded in white, the molded-in-yellow Hertz version, and two plain versions, molded in red and burgundy.

Here's the Hertz version.

... and the Paris-Dakar variant.

I do wonder why ESCI chose to have the front "cab" doors and rear cargo door open, but molded the side cargo doors in place. Maybe it's just me, but those are the doors I want to open on a cargo van!

The undercarriage, interior, and grille are molded in black, regardless of the body color or box art.

The clear parts are meant to snap into place for the most part, though Esci did a mostly decent job hiding the snap tabs, though they do remain visible from certain angles on the finished model.

Full set of four tires, plus a spare. Tread and sidewall detail is pretty nice on the Pirelli Cinturato rollers.

I can't say this is universal, but every Esci Transit I've seen has had the decal sheet stuck to the instruction sheet at this point. That being said, the decals are well-printed.

Fit of parts is great- you won't even need glue for the majority of subassemblies, though I'm not sure if this was meant to be a "snap" kit or not. It is a curbside, but looks good, and has a satisfying enough level of detail in most regards. I might make up a panel for behind the grille, to replicate the look of a radiator, and to block off the back of the grille so the "firewall" isn't visible through it!

It's a simple kit, apparently they're pretty rare, though, and they aren't easy to track down for a decent price. Still, they're nicely done, and many different variants can be built. I've seen Transits of this body style with sliding side doors (as in the driver's and front passenger door), and I've seen cutaway versions built as wreckers. It would be a cool kit to have if you are into light commercial kits, Ford trucks, or European vehicles- or any combination of the three.